Just Like Him
by xxfatal
Summary: Maiko. She betrayed Fire Nation for him.


**A/N: **Book 3: Chapter 14, 15 spoiler warnings. (If you're a spoil-sport like myself, please indulge yourself at **watchavatar.cc**. You won't be disappointed.) Please no raving madness about fan pairing preferences, or flying spittle, thanks. I like Zutara. I just like Maiko better. :3

**Just Like Him**

Mai betrayed Fire Nation and that was why she was currently sitting in a dank, dingy cell: rotting, and being fed rat remains.

She hummed monotonously as she leaned against the rusty walls, occasionally bringing to mind why she did it in the first place.

The bastard had shoved a guard at her, then locked them both into a prisoner's cell. All he gave her was a look in the eye, not even a sorry one. But she saw something—maybe determination and just the belief that he was finally doing something _right_ for once that made her want to believe he wasn't just a total, complete bastard.

"Here, Ty Lee, you can have it," Mai offered listlessly, shoving the unsightly ration through a crack that made the thing gush back at her. "Ew," she sighed, flicking the remnants off her finger.

"Thanks!" she heard from across the two-inch, solid metal barrier. It was faint, but it filtered in through the tiny cracks in the cell's every decrepit corner. The entire room was windowless, except for the tiny slit in the door that gave the wardens a direct view of the prisoner. She never thought she'd end up as one. Even her uncle was forbidden to help her.

But it was almost nice here, wherever that was. She didn't have act like wallpaper, or only work at the caprice of a Fire Princess puppeteer. It was just her, Ty Lee, the constantly moaning soul in the cell over, and that pile of bones across the room.

"Mai," Ty Lee seemed to echo, "how long has it been, exactly? I've run out of fingers and toes!"

Mai glanced down, at the carved handiwork on the floor beside her. She'd coaxed a rusted bar from the slit in the wall and had sharpened it by running it against the filthy wall to pass the time. She put it away whenever they decided to bring food. Fire Nation people hardly ever seemed punctual.

Twenty-two scratches marred the surface of the floor, precisely. "It's been a twenty-two days, Ty Lee."

"That bites! I haven't been able to do anything except basic stretches since I've been cooped up in here!"

Mai turned away from the sound of her chipper voice. Ty Lee sounded fine, but she knew she was just keeping quiet to stave off the disappointment that no one had come for them yet. That maybe they would never leave here; perhaps they would perish here like their unfortunate predecessors.

"Zuko's not coming," she said. Her dead voice echoed off the chamber walls, definite and condemning. There was a silence. She sometimes hoped she wasn't right, but she usually was about these things.

"That's not true," Ty Lee murmured, nearly impossible to hear from behind the solid metal partition. Mai didn't deign a response, merely scratched a circle into the space next to her slippered feet. "Zuko loves you, Mai."

Mai snorted. "A-huh. That's why there hasn't been a sign of him since he ran off with his ragtag band of revolutionaries."

"Maybe . . ." But Ty Lee's words died on her lips. Mai mentally slapped herself. She'd depressed her. This wasn't the first time, but Ty Lee would mope for days at a time.

"Sorry," Mai told her.

"No, no, it's okay, Mai! You're just so sensible all the time," she paused, "that I'm starting to think you're right."

"No!"

"Mai?" Ty Lee exclaimed, baffled by the inflamed response.

"I don't want you to think I'm right, Ty Lee. I don't want to really . . . stay here." The last two words seemed hesitant, and choked out. Mai never cried—she wasn't crying now, but there was something about her tone that just seemed lower than usual.

"I'm sorry I made you sad, Mai."

"You didn't," Mai assured her, "believe me." She thought about her next words. "I just wish we could get out of here."

"Well, I did try to poke my fingers into the guard's eye, but he just yelled and that didn't really get me anywhere."

"I heard that," Mai recalled.

"You know, I bet that they're flying on that bison."

"The gigantic white toilet brush?"

"I think they called him Ape."

"Appa."

"Yeah!" Ty Lee enthused. "I've always wanted to try flying, you know, the real kind. Not just flipping around in the air. But it seems a little scary. There's only so high for a safe landing."

"I like my feet on the ground."

"You like Zuko."

". . . What does that have to do with the flying bison?"

"Well, I was just thinking--" Mai really didn't want to know at this point, but there was nothing else to do, "--since I've heard this saying once, about love and stuff, being all floaty and dreamy and up in Cloud Nine. So, technically, your feet aren't on the ground."

Mai frowned pointedly. "They are."

"Figuratively, Mai."

"I'm not sure I like Zuko that much anymore."

"You're lying!"

"I don't want to talk it about it, Ty Lee. I just don't think he's coming, and I don't want to expect something out of him which isn't going to come true."

". . . He's coming," chirped Ty Lee quickly and quietly.

Mai sighed. "Make up your mind already, Ty Lee." Ty Lee stayed silent. Mai waited, but didn't hear another peep out of her for the rest of the day. As time dragged on, Mai slowly dragged her eyelids down and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

She awoke early the next morning; her internal clock had been too much of her life to lose in a few weeks. She sat up straighter while she waited for food to arrive. They usually came by to drop it off at this time, if they did at all. Mai frowned as a stray thought crossed her mind. She stood up and walked to the door, peering out of the slit.

"Hello?" she called out, rather hoarsely.

"Mai?" came the muffled cry.

She raised her voice, so her companion could hear her. "Ty Lee, have you seen a guard lately?"

"Not since yesterday morning, why?"

". . . They're supposed to be patrolling every few hours. I haven't seen one."

"Me neither. Maybe they're having a party. Isn't it a little rude to throw a party without even telling us?"

"Shh, I think I hear something." Mai's insides trembled as she listened intently. It was a faint rumbling sound; she didn't recognize it, but anything out of the ordinary in here was immediately welcome. She calmly pressed her ear against the door, but heard nothing further. ". . . Great. I'm going crazy in here."

"What did you say, Mai?"

"Nothing," Mai sighed, sagging down beside the door.

"Oh, okay. Say, you have any leftovers? I'm a little hungry."

"No."

"Rats."

"I don't know how you stand that stuff."

"What—oh! It's not rats, Mai!" She giggled, as if Mai was the one being absurd. "They're mice; I can tell! They're loads cleaner."

"Gee, what a difference."

"Yep!"

Mai rubbed her temple; she could already feel the migraine coming on. It'd been happening more frequently since she'd been shut in here with inadequate lodgings and sub-par sustenance. Maybe she _was_ spoiled.

"I'd really like a sandwich right now."

"Me, too, Ty Lee."

"We should ask the guard for one, when he decides to come back from that party."

"He probably just left us here to die."

"Ohh, he'd better not!"

Mai pressed her eyes closed. "My head hurts . . ." she mumbled, lifting her fingers to block out the unhealthy, yellow light in the ceiling. She was dragged off into unconsciousness in minutes.

* * *

The sound of pounding.

Her head. It was definitely her head.

It was getting louder.

Ouch. Stop it.

Then there was this awful clanging.

Shut up. I'm sleeping.

"Mai! . . . Mai!"

No.

"Mai! Get up! Are you okay? Mai!"

"Be quiet, Zuko. I'm trying to sleep." Her eyes bloomed open with surprise at what left her lips. Zuko? He wasn't really . . .

"Mai . . ." Golden eyes. A red scar. She forced back an automatic smile. Zuko.

"Hey, you're early," she remarked, dusting herself off, carefully keeping her distance. He had the door open, with this warm, strange look in his eyes. It was too bad she'd have to actually go through him to get out of this dinky hole.

He took a step toward her, which immediately put her on her guard. "Mai."

"Stop it, Zuko. I know my own name," she replied disdainfully, brushing past him to reach the hall behind.

"Wait," he grabbed her arm, "Mai, wait. I'm sorry."

"You don't mean it," she said, narrowing her eyes. She wasn't ready to face him; she didn't intend on actually being saved. She wasn't sure if she could still love him.

He didn't let her go. "I've put you through so much, I'm sorry, Mai."

She wriggled out from his grip. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Zuko," she lied stonily. "Let's just get out of here."

"No."

She glanced back at him. He didn't look the same. He wasn't the same dashing Fire Nation prince. He was awkward, and sorry, and learned. She was still in love with him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Not until I . . ." He drew her toward him; she resisted, realizing what he was trying to do, and dreading it. Suddenly, he closed the large chasm that had been there with an impatient, furious kiss. She immediately tried to jerk away, but he held her fast until she melted into his touch, and just gave up trying to fight what she had been dreaming of since Day One.

After a few minutes, Mai pulled away.

"Mai, you don't . . . feel the same about me anymore?" Zuko questioned.

"Don't be stupid. I'm in here because of you, right?" She sauntered out of the cell, feeling rather . . . pleased. "We need to get Ty Lee out; she's hungry."

_fin._

**A/N:** Huuuhh. My first ever non-Naruto fanfic. (Haha, aren't you proud?) I'm not sure I have a handle on any of the characters. Thank you for reading. Feedback is welcomed. Have a nice day.


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